In an inspiring TED video Stephen Trzeciak, a critical care doctor at Cooper University Health Care in Camden, N.J. explains How 40 Seconds of Compassion Could Save a Life. He begins, “In healthcare we in the midst of a compassion crisis.” Today nearly half of Americans believe healthcare providers are not compassionate. One

This week’s guests are Danny Conroy and Daniel Lichty. Danny and Daniel explained how they use lean in banking, specifically to improve the mortgage process. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download here. In this episode you’ll learn: Their backgrounds (2:20) Their favorite quotes (3:56) What lean

Why do we need to set a hypothesis? Because that’s how the scientific method works. Why do we need to follow the scientific method? Because that’s how we solve complex or novel problems most effectively. Why is that true? Because we test and refine our hypotheses. We were going in

Last week I was reading Mark Graban’s latest book, Measures of Success, which does a great job of discussing how to use data to effectively lead and manage an organization. With new technologies it has become so easy to capture data that we often go overboard – and really never

This week’s guest is Dan Whittaker. Dan shared some interesting stories from his time working in Formula 1, and explained what it’s like applying lean in the United Arab Emirates. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download here. In this episode you’ll learn: Dan’s background (3:05) The

The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle examines how groups of various sizes and shapes form into great teams. He offers practical pointers on what we can do to improve our relationships within cooperative environments. Coyle has written a book with a simple, compelling, human-centered

This week’s guest is our new Director of Certification & Coaching, David Asher. Ron and David talked about the importance of having a Strategy Execution Plan, among other things. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download here. In this episode you’ll learn: Dave’s background (2:22) The quote

Gemba Academy just released a new Gemba Academy Live! video series where we visit Texas Nameplate in Lancaster, Texas. Dale Crownover, CEO of Texas Nameplate, has spoken at numerous lean and continuous improvement conferences, include the AME Annual Conference. In this 10 video series we move beyond lean and take

For more than 20 years fish have been flying through the middle of downtown Seattle. Locals come to the Pike Place Fish Market to buy fresh fish. Tourists come for the novelty of seeing the fishmongers throw 10-pound salmon to each other 50 feet through the air. The tradition continues,

This week’s guest is James Newell. James is American but has lived in Germany for the past twenty years, and he shared his experiences applying lean there. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download here. In this episode you’ll learn: James’ background (2:17) When James got into